Truth Among the Lies
by Kamailelauli'i 2012
Summary: Scarlet is a 14 year old girl seeking to avenge her brutal death. She escapes from the underworld and heads back to earth, When Hades notices she's gone, he will stop at nothing to bring her back.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The cave

I crept through the damp caves with a pounding heart and burning eyes. I had to get out, no matter what the cost. I needed to get out, to see my family again. He couldn't keep me from seeing them. I know what he said, but I know he was wrong.

I suddenly slipped on the cold, stone floor and fell to the ground with a "SMACK!" I muttered a curse and held my head. I looked up and almost screamed out loud. There was a face right in front of mine.

"Oh!" I gasped, a little too loudly. But then I saw who it was, and relaxed. He extended a hand and I took it, pulling myself up with a grunt.

"Trying to escape huh?" He said, smiling.

"Look, I know what he said and I don't care. I know there has to be some way I can see my family again. Even if that means as a ghost." I pushed the hair out of my eyes and continued onward.

"Hey!" He called, running to catch up with me. "I understand that you need to see your family again. I get it. But if you tell them what you've seen, what you've heard, you'll be putting their lives at risk." He finally caught up to me, so he grabbed me by the shoulders and tried desperately to make me listen. "Scarlet, please stay! I'm not just asking for me but for your family! Please think of them!"

"I am! Aren't you listening? They don't know why I'm dead, and I need to make it right. I need to bring the person that did this to justice. So you can either stay here in hell, or come with me up there." I made a gesture to the rocks above my head.

A few seconds of complete and utter silence passed, and then I turned to leave. "Wait! I'm coming!" he called. I smiled to myself. I knew him well enough to know that he couldn't last under peer pressure. He was the type that wanted to be liked by everyone. It was part of his charm, as he would say.

"Why are you smiling?" He asked, as we walked through the damp cave. I didn't answer, so he kept on talking.

"How did you die?" he asked. That one caught me off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"How did you die? I'll tell you how I died." He said, like the mere subject of death was an ice breaker. "Tell me how you died first." I said slowly, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, there's not much to tell. I was mowing the lawn one day then tripped, and the lawn mower just went right over me." He said this so casually, like it was an everyday thing.

"Okay…" my voice trailed off. "My story's a little more, sinister." I stopped, choosing my words very carefully. "I was, um, well." I took a deep breath, and managed to make out the word that I had not spoken for months.

"Murdered." My voice cracked and tears welt up in my eyes. I guess Michael noticed, because he quickly said, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was painful to talk about."

"That's ok. You didn't know. I'm fine, really." I lied. He didn't looked like he believed me, but he left the subject alone.

After walking for what felt like hours, we finally came to a door. It wasn't fancy; in fact I wouldn't have seen it unless Michael pointed it out. It was blended in with the cave, so most people would have thought it was a dead end, and gone back.

"What do we do now?" Michael said, his voice cracking with fear. What a stupid question, I thought to myself. "We open it."

My hand touched the knob. "Ahhhhhh!" I screamed, dropping to my knees. "What happened? Are you ok?" Michael face was tomato red. I smiled, trying to hold back my laughter. When he saw my face he frowned, obviously mad.

"You almost killed me!" He overreacted. "Again!"

"Oh come on. It was just a joke." I said. "Now, let's go see my family!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A psychic's lies

Right when we stepped out the door, I knew something was odd. We were standing in what looked like a ghostly waiting area.

"What the hell?" Michael whispered, his eyes widening. I sighed and grabbed his arm.

"Come on. We need to get back to my family." I said, right before I pushed open or, well actually went right through the door. Cold air suddenly struck my face. I glanced around and instantly froze. My mouth formed a tight line and I stopped breathing.

We were in an alley. The same exact alley that I was murdered in. Memories started to flood back to my brain. I saw the bloody knife, the man's…wait! It was a woman! A girl, no older than me! I closed my eyes, trying to remember more.

There was blood, yes, lots of blood. Hair! Dark brown hair, and-

"SCARLET! SCARLET PLASE WAKE UP!" someone called. Maybe that's my dad, waking me up for school, I thought with a smile, but I knew it wasn't possible.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Michael, PRAYING? I sat up and chuckled. Then I said, "What are you doing?"

"Praying, what does it look like?" He smiled and gave me a huge hug. Well. I guess I had fainted when I was remembering stuff.

"Ok. We need to find your family. Do you remember if this is close to your house?"

"Well…" I squinted, trying to see where my street was. "Um… We should go this way," I pointed in the direction of Panamá St.

"Wait! I want to try something. Do you remember in all those movies, ghosts could transport themselves anywhere?" Michael shouted, obviously very excited.

"Okay. How about you can stay there the whole night trying to transport yourself to Lala Land, and I'll go to my house and try to avenge my death. Sounds good? 'Kay, bye!" I turned away from the alley and started walking toward my street.

It took a little over three minutes to get to my driveway. I didn't know what to expect considering, you know, that I'm dead. I was hoping they could see me, because if they could, my job would be a lot easier. I took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

The first thing I heard was the crying. It was so loud, so desperate, I felt like crying too. "Mom? Dad? Are you there? Can you hear me?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. What I saw was too weird, too odd. I saw my entire family, my mom, dad, and sister, sitting around the kitchen table with what appeared to be a psychic. She had that colorful wrap around her head, unnaturally long fingernails and eyelashes, and to top it all off, a dead ferret scarf. My mom and dad were sitting strait up, hiding the tears with all their might. My sister Jenna however, was the exact opposite. She had her head on the table; her loud racking sobs could be heard from a mile away.

"Oh god." I muttered to myself. That psychic was so stupid. She was telling them that everything was fine and that I was still alive. Wait! They didn't find my body yet? So they didn't know I was dead? I felt overcome with rage and hate. I just wanted to make her pay for lying to my family.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I remembered something that I read a while back, when I was in 7th grade. I read that some ghosts, poltergeists, can move things and make sounds. I think they feed of off emotions, like sadness or hate.

"Well, it's worth a shot." I took a deep breath and concentrated on the vase in the center of the table. I cleared my head of all thoughts and muttered, "Tip over, tip over, tip over." Then, I realized that the psychic was standing up, so I looked away from the vase and straight into her eyes.

She must have felt something, because she shuttered and looked around the room in alarm. I smiled, feeling quite pleased with myself for freaking her out. I then walked closer to hear what they were saying.

"She isn't dead." The psychic was lying.

"Are you sure? N-not that I want her to be," my mother sniffed, "it's just that I don't want to believe with all my heart, and then be crushed with a simple sentence."

I felt tears welt up in my eyes and I bit my lip.

"Yes I'm 110% sure" she smiled with a cold, cruel, cocky smile. It disgusted me.

"So… my work here is done, pay me in cash. I don't take checks."

"WHAT?" I screamed, though nobody would hear me. "You don't deserve to be paid! You only told them a load of crap! You're a con woman and you'll go to hell!"

The next few seconds happened so fast, it's a wonder I can even remember it all. The vase slid off the table and "CRASH!" onto the floor.

The psychic screamed as books from the shelf behind her knocked onto her head. She screamed even more, but this time she ran towards the door. Oh I wasn't going to let her go that easily. I concentrated on the sprinkler pipe. I willed the gears to turn, ever so slightly-"AHHHHHH!" I heard her scream from the front yard. I laughed and walked over to the couch. I sat down and sighed.

I felt odd. Like someone was staring at me. I glanced around and stopped dead. My little sister was staring right at me.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" She screamed, running into the kitchen. My jaw dropped. She could see me! I was thrilled. Overcome with joy. Then I realized exactly what she was doing. I stood up and ran after her.

"She's back! The lady was right! It's Scarlet!" she cheered, tugging on my parents arm. My mom's face lit up with hope. She ran into the living room and, when she saw it was empty burst into tears. She sank to the floor and my dad rushed to her side. I walked out of the kitchen and stood in front of them, holding back a waterfall of tears.

"Jenna" my father said sternly. "There is nobody here but us. What have I told you about lying? It hurts people, especially now. Go to your room."

"But-but I-I really saw-"

"NOW!" my dad roared. My sister shrank back and sped up the stairs. I could hear her sobbing before she even reached her room. She slammed the door and I was left standing in the middle of the room, in complete silence.

Thanks for reading my latest chapter and please give me your feedback. If you have suggestions on how I can make my writing better, please tell me.

BYE BYE!


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